Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, announced today it will feature the Honeywell Primus Elite avionics platform as well as an upgraded cabin management system on new Citation X business jets beginning in 2011. Honeywell's Primus Elite will also be available as an optional service bulletin upgrade through the Cessna Citation Service Center network for in-service Citation Xs.

"The Citation X is Cessna's flagship business jet and our continued investment will ensure it remains one of the most advanced aircraft in the world," said Roger Whyte, senior vice president, Cessna Sales and Marketing. "Honeywell's continued improvements to the Citation X's avionics, coupled with our cabin management system upgrades, will allow Citation X operators to take maximum advantage of technologies developed for the global operating environment well into the future."

Based on the Citation X's current Honeywell Primus 2000 system, the five-panel Elite system features liquid crystal displays (LCD), offering high-resolution graphics display capability for electronic approach charts with aircraft position worldwide as well as XM satellite weather in the United States and southern Canada. In addition, improved moving map capability will depict geographical and political boundaries as well as airspace and airways. LCD technology also provides greater reliability and longer service life than previous displays.

Honeywell's planned improvement roadmap for the Elite platform includes options such as synthetic vision and advanced moving map capability.

Improvements to the proprietary cabin management system (CMS), also included as a standard feature for 2011 deliveries, include touch-screen control panels, MP3 player inputs, an improved stereo sound system optimized for the Citation X cabin, updated Airshow display imagery, and dual Blu-ray players with a high-definition display monitor mounted in the forward closet.

The Citation X is the fastest business jet in the world, with time and cost efficiency as its most important benefits. Normally configured for eight passengers, the Citation X has a range of more than 3,000 nautical miles and flies as high as 51,000 feet, well above most weather systems and other aircraft traffic for a smoother, more efficient flight profile.